New Pharmacological Treatments for Equine Reproductive Management
New Pharmacological Treatments for Equine Reproductive Management P. J. Burns, Ph.D.11,2,3,4, D. L. Thompson, Jr, Ph.D.5, W. A. Storer Ph.D.5 R. Gilley B.S1,2,3., C. Morrow, D.V.M.3, J. Abraham, B. S. 7 & R. H. Douglas, Ph.D. 1,2,3 1BioRelease Technologies LLC, Birmingham, AL 2BET Pharm, Lexington, KY 3 Mt Laurel Veterinary Pharmacy, Birmingham, 4Burns BioSolutions INC, Lexington, KY 5Animal Sciences Department, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 6 Mobile Veterinary Practice, Amarillo, Tx, 7 Abraham Equine, Mendota Ranch, Canadian,Tx Introduction Loy (1970) reported that only 55% of mares bred annually produce live foals. Recent data from The Jockey Club (2006) indicate that only 37,025 of 64,123 (57.7%) of thoroughbred mares bred during 2005 produced live foals. This is considerably lower than foaling rates of 71 to 85%, which are reported on farms where extensive reproductive management is used. Overall, reproductive management has not improved much in the last 30 years. The long estrus period, with ovulation at any time from 1 to 10 days after the beginning of estrus, has made reproductive management of cyclic mares time-consuming, expensive and most importantly, inefficient. Furthermore, the confusion associated with the long and variable transition from anestrous to cyclicity in mares greatly magnifies the complexity of efficient reproductive management for this category of mares. There is a need to develop and capitalize on controlled breeding programs for the horse industry based on new advances in the understanding of cost effective hormonal control of reproduction in mares and stallions.
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